By Your Side (Preview)

Chapter 7

With each step I took, I was driven to push forward by our soon-to-be freedom. The feeling of the car's air conditioning caused the adrenaline to start flowing through me with the additional driving force that my body created. It almost made this seem effortless as I crossed the scorching asphalt that the sun was beating down on, with my best friend still casually riding on my back. I don't know what it was, but something made the walk seem like it flew by as we triumphantly made it to the car that was once sitting across the parking lot. Taking a minute to catch my breath, I could see in my peripherals the look of awe on Clare's face; then, suddenly, she turned her head and kissed me on the cheek.

"Thanks." She whispered into my ear as she took her lips off my skin.

"No problem, and besides, I also wanted to impress you," I confessed, but she didn't say anything. Then again, I think the kiss on the cheek spoke for itself.

Subtly blushing, thinking about how romantic the two of us were acting today, I wanted to keep Clare on my back, but the weight was starting to get to me. Bringing an end to our intimate moment, I crouched down again, allowing Clare to dismount. Once I was free from holding onto her, I unlocked the car doors, and the two of us climbed inside, Clare taking the passenger seat as I walked around to the other side. Looking over at Clare as I sat in the driver's seat, I noticed that she was captivated by the car's interior. She ran her fingers across the leather and then the dustless dashboard before casually playing with the vents' sliders. Once she had them pointing directly at her, I wanted to impress her a little more, even though I knew she didn't care much about cars. When I turned the key in the ignition and brought the vehicle to life, we were both filled with a sense of joy.

As the engine ignited, the car rumbled beneath us, and Clare showed off the widest smile I had ever seen grace her face. With this display of emotion, I also felt a newfound feeling of confidence running through me. Throwing the gear shift into drive, I revved the engine slightly as Clare looked at me with that twinkle in her eye. Then the next thing I knew, we launched out of the parking lot, heading toward our next adventure.

The road we turned on when we left the water park wasn't very busy, and it was surprising to see it as dead as it was. Still being fuelled by the excitement I saw on Clare's face, I wanted to show off more to her and floored it as the engine howled while we were both thrown into the backs of our seats. I wasn't stupid, and I didn't speed for long that when I stopped, Clare briefly continued laughing to herself but then fell silent. I don't know what I expected. Maybe I wanted her to make a remark about how much fun she was having. However, we both fell back into silence, and Clare seemed lost in her mind as she stared out the passenger window to watch as the world passed by us outside. While I, on the other hand, kept my eyes on the road in front of us while still feeling a little tense about hanging out with someone who wasn't one of my outcasted bros. Clare wasn't even close to being a bro in my eyes, not because I didn't want her to be, but because she was something so much more.

"So, do you want to talk about everything that happened back there?" I asked, bringing an end to the silence.

However, my voice seemed to trigger something in her. It ultimately caused her to turn around to face me while putting her elbow on the edge of the window as she played with her wet ponytail. Pulling it between her fingers, her eyes looked at mine but quickly shied away.

"What do you mean?" She replied, and I couldn't tell if she didn't want to talk about it or if she actually didn't know what I was inferring.

"All of that back at the water park, like the fact we almost kissed and the hand-holding?" I reminded her, but she still kept her eyes away from mine.